Too bad they cancelled "Last Comic Standing"...

Dom flings the ballroom door open. I am close behind. Steph and Tim are near the escalator, walking slowly away from us.

Dom looks back at me, slowing down a bit so I can catch up to him. "What the hell's going on?" he asks.

"What do you mean?"

"Stephanie stormed out, Tim's showing you her hand. What's up?"

Tim and Stephanie turn and look at us. They're.....laughing!

"Everything ok here?" Dom says.

"Did you think we were FIGHTING?" Says Tim.

"We didn't know WHAT you were doing," I say.

"We were just TALKING, Steve," Steph says. "Thank you, Tim."

"OK, you're welcome, Stephanie!" Tim says.

"Actually, we'll catch up with you ladies in a bit. I need Dom for a minute."

They walk silently back to the ballroom, side by side, glancing back at us several times before reaching the door.

"Dom, I-"

He looks at me with big, intense eyes.

Dom knows something went on. I might ruin his relationship with Tim if I tell him, but at this point, I've got to tell him something, which means I can either make up an elaborate lie, or just tell the truth. Something tells me he and Tim aren't talking engagement, anyway.

"I kissed Tim."

He squints. "Yeah?" he says, as if expecting more.

"No, I mean I KISSED her."

"What, you mean like you made out with her?"

"Yeah."

"And Stephanie found out?"

"Yeah. I told her."

"WHAT?!?!?"

"I had to. I couldn't deal."

"Steve, you are truly whipped."

"So you're telling me you're ok with this."

"You want me to be angry, Steve?" he laughs.

"She IS your girlfriend."

"NO. She is NOT my girlfriend. I don't have a girlfriend."

"Fine, you're seeing her then."

"I'm FUCKING her. Next week, I'll be fucking someone else."

"It does feel like I'm betraying you, though."

"Yeah, so what?" he says dismissively.

"So WHAT?!"

"Steve. Tim obviously likes you, and after... what happened, I just figured you were gonna have sex with her."

"So this was a pleasant surprise?"

He shrugs. "If you wanna fuck her, fuck her."

At first, I don't understand how Dom can be so easygoing about this. But after I think about it, it makes sense. How would it look if he got angry at me for kissing Tim, who he's not even truly dating, after he screwed Lila, someone I was with for a year?

Aside from that, I get the impression that Dom truly does not care for Tim as a person. That actually makes me sad, in a way. He seems lonely, if that makes sense.

**********

"So what was that about?" I ask Steph back at the table.

"Tim just wanted to... apologize," she says, pursing her lips.

"Did you accept her apology?"

"I accepted yours, why wouldn't I accept hers?"

"You don't know her, you don't trust her, you don't like her..."

"I trust YOU. As long as she's keeping her hands off you, she doesn't concern me."

"Did you tell her you didn't like her putting her hands on me?"

"I mentioned that."

"What were you guys laughing about?"

"Tim said that you were obviously head over heels in love with me. And I said, 'He must be, to take all the shit I put him through'."

"Hilarious."